


jalex prompt fics

by orphan_account



Category: All Time Low (Band)
Genre: Comfort, Drinking, Fluff, Jalex - Freeform, M/M, Prompt Fic, Sick Character, Tumblr Prompt, alcohol mention
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-10
Updated: 2021-01-05
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:27:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,508
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27485014
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: just some jalex prompt fics that i wrote once upon a time on the tumblr
Relationships: Jack Barakat/Alex Gaskarth
Comments: 9
Kudos: 16





	1. i

**Author's Note:**

  * For [bellawritess](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bellawritess/gifts).



> hello yes my heart belongs to [bella](http://clumsyclifford.tumblr.com) bc i write jalex solely for her tbh

Alex is tired of it. 

He’s tired of the loud music, the loud thumping that’s constantly coming from the upstairs apartment every evening. Sure, it wasn’t all that bad for the first few weeks he’d lived there. It had been mostly quiet, had only happened once or twice a week at best. But over the last week, it’s been every single night. Loud music, enough to shake his own apartment downstairs, and the constant thumping from right above his bedroom. 

Alex had tried to just put in his headphones, tried to ignore it. But it’s now going on one in the morning, and it hasn’t stopped, and he’s convinced these people upstairs must be made out of something else because how else would they still be going at it almost three hours later? He shudders at the very thought.

That’s why he’s now standing in front of the apartment of his upstairs neighbor, and he wonders how his actual neighbors deal with this noise. He’s sure that he’s gotten all kinds of complaints at this point, so what’s another one on top of the plenty that he’s certain that he’s gotten? 

He bangs his fist against the wood of the door, hoping that he could hear him over the music pulsating through his speakers. He hears it get turned down, and lets out a soft sigh of relief that at least whoever was in there had the decency to turn the music down. 

What surprises him the most, however, is when a man his own age is on the other side of the door, fully dressed, looking perfectly normal like he hasn’t been doing what Alex thinks he’s been doing. So that leaves him thoroughly perplexed as he knits his eyebrows together. The man on the other side of the door stares at him for a beat before speaking. 

“Sorry, I’m assuming you’re here because of the music,” he says, scratching the back of his head a little bit. “I’ll keep it down. I’ve been alone on this floor for a while, didn’t know that someone else moved in.” 

“Actually, I live downstairs,” Alex replies, his fingers threading through his own blond locks as he tries to distract himself a little from the guy on the other side of the door. He’d expected something entirely different than the sight he was presented with, so he’s scrambling to present himself to be at least a little less angry than he already is. He didn’t think anyone his age that he might potentially be able to become friends with (based on music taste alone, at least) would be living here. He just thought it was another horny couple trying to cover up their antics. “But it’s fine, just… thought you were doing something else other than listening to loud music.” He holds his hand out awkwardly. “I’m Alex, by the way.” 

“Jack,” the other guy says with a laugh, and takes his hand into his own. Alex is a little smitten, he can’t lie about that, but he does a great job of covering it up with a laugh as he shakes hands with the aforementioned Jack. “No, I’ve just been having a rough week. So… lots of loud music, take out, and jumping up and down on my bed like I'm a 12 year old, you know?” 

Alex is sure he’s never heard something so childish sound so incredibly attractive until he heard it coming from Jack. 

“Wait, you were, like, jumping up and down on your bed? That’s what that noise was?” Alex says, his brain finally catching up with him. “My mind was totally in the gutter, my bad, man.” Jack lets out a laugh, grinning a bit as he ruffles his fingers through his dark locks. 

“Mine woulda been in the same place, don’t worry about it,” he laughs a little bit. “Whenever I have an exceptionally bad day I just like to revert back to an emo teen and blast my music and act like I’m like, in a mosh pit. But alone. On my bed. That sounds so fucking lame, forget I said that.” Alex laughs a little bit, shaking his head in response. 

“No, no, it sounds like a killer time,” he grins. “Especially if you throw some drinks in there too, yell the lyrics really loud…” The grin that overtakes Jack’s face is infectious, and Alex can’t help but smile wider, too. 

“You wanna come yell and jump on my bed with me then?” he offers. “I’ve got some White Claws in the fridge.” Alex thinks a moment on how he should probably be a more responsible adult, but takes the thought and tosses it out. 

“I would like nothing better.”


	2. ii

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> second jalex prompt!

Alex isn’t entirely sure when it happened, when he started looking at Jack that way. He wonders if he notices, if he sees the way that he looks at him sometimes. If he does, he doesn’t say anything to Alex, but he can’t help but wonder anyways if he can see the absolutely pathetic gazes he gives him at all times of day. 

He knows that he’s been doing it for a little while now. He and Jack have only been friends for a few months now it seems, ever since their fateful encounter from his noisy pastime of loud music and jumping up and down on his bed. Now they’re practically inseparable most nights -- spending them getting food together or taking turns making each other dinner, drinking too much, yelling about how much they hate their jobs and, as of late, complaining about their dating lives (or rather the lack thereof).

That seemed to be the root of why Jack had been blasting so much music and having a small one man concert atop his bed. A long string of bad dates and miscommunications leading up to a breaking point of frustration for him. Alex was pleased to find that Jack was bisexual, at the very least, and he tucked that information into his pocket for later on. In case it became relevant information for him. 

Maybe that’s when he started looking at him like that. After he’d shared his vulnerabilities, his failed attempts at making a life with someone. When someone lays themselves raw for you, shares their deepest secrets with you, like whispers in the dark over a bottle of wine, you can’t help but become a little sympathetic or enamoured with them. But he found his gaze on Jack more often than not whenever they were together, and he was starting to wonder if it was just a problem, or if it was something more, aching in his chest, begging to burst open and spill affirmations all over the tile of his kitchen floor. 

It didn’t matter what Jack was doing -- whether it was making dinner for the two of them, talking about his day. If it was in his apartment, in Alex’s apartment, at the crappy bar down the road from their building where they would meet up some days after work for a beer and a laugh and occasionally some shitty karaoke. Alex always made sure to laugh at the jokes, frown at the sad stories, smile at the happy ones, but his chestnut eyes always carried something more in them. 

The stares of adoration just kept escalating, he thinks. He couldn’t tell himself, he couldn’t look at himself from the outside and see how pathetic he’s sure that he looks, pining after this man who lives above him and has become his friend. But no matter what, Alex craves more. Ever since their meeting in Jack’s doorway, his eyes falling on his own and stumbling over himself in almost a heartbeat for him. 

He was catching himself again tonight, over pizza and beer as Jack laments about his work week, griping about his terrible coworkers and his terrible hours, wishing he could make a living sitting at home and doing absolutely nothing. Alex thinks he would love to do the same -- sit at home and do nothing for a living, but he would only enjoy it if he could spend the time with Jack, he adds in his head. He’s just staring at Jack a little bit, he’s certain that look is in his eyes again as he nods without really listening to his words, settling back into the couch. 

“Dude, you doing okay? You’ve hardly even touched your pizza,” Jack says, turning and meeting Alex’s gaze, and that breaks his aimless, hopeless gaze, the stars in his eyes dissipating as he comes back down to earth. 

“Yeah, no, I’m good, sorry,” he laughs a little bit, an awkwardness on the edges of his voice as he grabs his pizza off of the table. “Just been a long week for me too, had a lot on my mind.” He wanted to add that the biggest distraction just happened to be the one sitting beside him right now, but he didn’t want to change anything between them, so he kept his mouth shut, just shoving more pizza inside of it instead of saying something stupid. 

“Nah, I get it man,” he says with a shrug. “You’ve just been looking extra… I dunno, lovelorn lately, I guess? Did someone break your heart and you didn’t tell me? Or did you meet someone and you didn’t tell me? Cause we’re best friends now, you’re legally obligated to tell me that kind of shit. I hope you know that.” Alex just lets out another laugh, finishing off his slice of pizza and taking a swig of his beer. 

“No, haven’t met anyone new,” he says with a shake of his head. “You know me. It’s not exactly easy for a man like me to find someone to date around these parts. I don’t have the same charms you do.” He nudges him playfully with a little bit of a grin, and he swears he sees Jack blush a little bit, but he tucks the thought away out of his brain -- or attempts to, at least, but his brain doesn’t necessarily listen when he’s under the influence.

“Don’t think my luck has worked out for me yet,” he shrugs a little as he takes a drink of his own beer. “Maybe one of these days someone will show up on my doorstep and sweep me off of my feet.” They both laugh a little bit, and Alex sits back a bit, looking Jack over again. He’s pleasantly buzzed, at least three beers deep, he knows that he would never say this when he was sober, but he was feeling confident and tipsy. He’s not sure what comes over him. 

“I mean, I showed up on your doorstep,” he shrugs a little bit as he sips his beer again. “And I could easily sweep you off your feet if you wanted me to.” Jack looks at him, almost confused for a beat, before he pieces it together. He lets out a soft oh, his eyes softening as he looks at Alex. 

“I didn’t think those looks were actually for me,” he says with a chuckle, confirming that he did indeed notice his gazes that he’s been giving him, but hadn’t realized that they were for him. “I thought maybe… someone else, I don’t know. No one ever looks at me like that for long.” He bites his bottom lip into his mouth, holding back a smile. 

“They’ve always been for you, you fucker,” he says with a laugh. “Ever since you opened the door to your apartment for me, they’ve always been for you.” Jack smiles a little more now, and he sets his beer down on the table as he scoots a little closer to Alex, and Alex has never felt so on fire in his entire life being this close to someone else. 

“Guess you’ll just have to show me all those feelings, then, huh?”


	3. iii.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "what's cookin', good lookin'?" from the lovely bella :) (who else)

Alex is almost surprised when he walks into the doorway of his apartment and smells food being cooked. He’s been busy all day with work, and was planning on ordering in tonight, but here he is. Someone has broken into his apartment and has decided to cook him a meal, he thinks. How thoughtful of them to feed him before he gets murdered. 

He closes the door behind him before calling into the apartment. “Uh, hello?” he says, his voice almost tentative. Whoever was here knew he was home, since he wasn’t quiet when he came through the door, but he also wanted to be prepared when he met his doom. He didn’t hear a response, though, which seemed odd to him, so he toed off his sneakers and made his way to the kitchen. 

He had seemingly forgotten he’d given Jack a key to his apartment, because here he was, making dinner for the two of them. In Alex’s kitchen. To say he was a little surprised would be an understatement, he thinks, as he has never seen Jack cook anything in his life. But his kitchen smelled amazing, so he obviously knew what the fuck he was doing tonight. 

“Oh, it’s you,” he sighs with relief, and Jack turns to him and takes out one of his earbuds. That would explain why he hadn’t replied to him when he called out to him earlier. 

“Welcome home,” Jack grins, turning back to the stove as he stirs the pasta in the pot in front of him. Alex would love to just spin him around and kiss him for it, but he doesn’t want to distract him too much from the task at hand. He opts instead to wrap his arms around his waist with a grin, pressing a chaste kiss to his temple instead. 

“What’s cookin’, good lookin’,” he grins, his line falling a little flat as it elicits an eye roll and then a laugh from Jack (as long as he gets the laugh, that’s okay. That’s all that he could ask for, really, he thinks). “Whatever it is, it smells fucking spectacular, I can tell you that much.” 

“Well, I’m just making some pasta with homemade red sauce,” he starts with a grin. “And some rolls to go with it. I’ve been a busy man, slaving away at your stove all day, trying to surprise you, you know. I hope I get some recognition for it.” Alex laughs softly in response to that, humming with pride as he pulls Jack a little bit closer to him. 

“I think you’re going to get rave reviews if it tastes as good as it smells, dude,” he says with a soft laugh. Jack beams at that, pulling the spoon out of the pasta and turning to face Alex. He pulls him closer by the belt loops with a mischievous grin on his face, and Alex mirrors it, his hands resting on Jack’s waist. 

“Well then, I can’t wait for you to get a taste,” he says, leaning in and kissing Alex briefly on the lips. Alex notes that he tastes a lot like a tomato sauce mixed with his very Jack taste, and that makes him grin a little bit more as Jack pulls back. 

“Delicious,” he hums. “When will I get some more?” Jack offers him a cheekier smile this time, turning back to the stove and putting his ear bud back in. 

“After dinner, of course.”


	4. iv

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "are you really flirting with me right now?" from the wonderful [bella](http://clumsyclifford.tumblr.com) (who else really i write jalex solely for her approval)

The emergency room is the last place on earth that Alex wants to be right now, but here he is. In the waiting area of the emergency room. Because one of his dumbass friends decided that it would be cool to try and do a backflip off of the roof and landed on his arm wrong. Alex, being the kind, funny, generous, and generally awesome person that he is, opted to be the one to take him in. (Also because it was his parent’s roof that he jumped off of, and felt partially responsible, damn him.)

So while his friend gets looked over, while the doctor checks him over to see if his arm is broken, or fractured, or sprained, he’s trying to keep himself busy in the waiting room. Because that’s just what he does. Tries to keep himself busy when he’s anxious or stressed about something. It’s what anyone his age would do, really. 

So he’s flipping through a magazine in the waiting room, trying to settle himself, calm his nerves and his brain, when the door swings open, another couple of guys who look his age making their way through the door. Alex peeks over the edge of his magazine as one of them gets checked in and brought out back to the actual emergency room to be looked over. Alex didn’t see what was wrong with him, but watches as the other guy grumbles to himself and shoves himself into a seat across from him. He sets his magazine down as he admires him for a beat, leaning his face into his hand. 

“So what brings you into the ER this evening?” he asks a little bit, hoping for some human conversation. He’s been sitting in here alone for a couple hours now, and the fact that not only is there someone else his age here now, but there’s someone who looks interesting enough to keep his attention for a few minutes sitting here. The other guy looks up at him, raising an eyebrow at him in a little bit of confusion. “I’m here cause my friend jumped off my roof because he’s a dumbass and might have broken his arm. In case you were wondering, or whatever.” Alex feels his cheeks get pink, biting his lip as he sits back in his chair. The other guy lets out a little bit of a laugh. 

“Skateboarding incident,” he says with a shrug. “We thought it would be cool to try and skate in a neighbors empty pool while they were out of town. My friend tripped over the lip and might have broken his ankle.” Alex laughs a little bit, sitting back and running a hand through his blond hair with a grin. 

“Sounds like we’ve got some pretty fuckin’ stupid friends, huh?” he laughs. He pauses for a beat before offering him his hand, tilting his head with a grin. “I’m Alex, by the way.” The other guy looks at him for a minute, taking in the sight of Alex, as if weighing his options with him. He makes a decision, apparently, because he takes hand into his own and shakes it a little bit. 

“Jack,” he replies. His shoulders relax a little bit, as if there had been tension he was carrying in them while he was talking to Alex. Alex just offers him a soft grin, resting his chin in his hand as he admires him a little bit. 

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you around town before,” Alex mentions, raising one of his own eyebrows again. “Are you new in town, or something?” Jack shakes his head a little bit. 

“No, I’ve lived here my whole life,” he shrugs. “Well, that’s a lie. I wasn’t born here. But I’ve lived here for almost my entire life. Maybe we go to different schools?”

“We must,” Alex says with a pointed huff. “I would most definitely remember if I saw someone like you at school.” He offers Jack a flirty grin, and Jack lets out a laugh, giving Alex an almost incredulous look as he looks over to him. 

“Are you really flirting with me right now?” he says with a little bit of a laugh. He doesn’t want to sound too presumptuous, but that’s definitely the vibe that he’s getting from this Alex guy. Alex just shrugs a little, his grin tugging at the edges of his mouth easily. 

“Only if that’s okay with you,” he says easily. Jack offers him a stupid grin, his own cheeks tinting pink as he sits up in his own seat.

“Oh, I am more than okay with that,” he replies. Alex grins as he leans into his hand a little bit, sighing softly. 

“Well then, Jack, where have you been all my life?”


	5. v.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> alex is feeling under the weather, and jack is far away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello beautiful people here i am w some cute lil jalex for none other than bella!!! this is from the prompt "i was in the neighborhood"! enjoy~

If there’s one thing that Alex hates, it’s being sick. 

Sure, it’s not even that big of a deal. It’s just a little bit of a cold, some sinus issues, whatever. But it was the kind of sick that still took you out for a couple of days, nonetheless. He’d spent the last few days complaining to himself on the couch, surrounded by too many empty packages of cup noodles and mountains of tissues. He knows he should get up, should clean up the apartment, try to attempt to have some semblance of keeping himself together. But he also knows that he doesn’t really have the energy to do that, so he’s saving it for when he finally starts to feel a little bit better. 

He’s running low on sinus medication, and he’d been complaining on FaceTime with Jack about it the night before, about how he’s going to have to make himself look halfway presentable so he can go to the store just to get some medicine (and probably more tissues, because he’s getting pretty low on those too, if he’s being quite honest). 

_“Maybe I’ll just have to bring you some,” Jack had said, laughing a little bit, a glint of mischief in his eyes. Alex had laughed a little bit, but winced from the overwhelming sinus headache that had been plaguing him these last few days. “Some sinus medication, hand delivered by Jack Barakat. Maybe I’ll make a business out of it. Jack’s Med Delivery. Or something. I’m no good with titles.”_

_“That would be something,” Alex had laughed in reply. “I’ll be your first customer. Or I would be, you know. If you weren’t halfway across the country. But it is a great idea. Keep it up.”_

Alex laughs a little to himself as he recalls the conversation, and finds himself missing Jack all over again. He was out in LA on business, working on a new project. He hated that Jack had to leave so often for this new thing he was working on, but such was their life. Quiet domesticity most of the time, nestled in their home in Baltimore, Jack leaving every once in a while to work on his craft in the music business. 

It had been the two of them ever since high school, all through college, and then even now, after college, they were stuck together like glue. Alex was glad he had Jack -- he wasn’t sure any of his other friends would put up with his bullshit like Jack did (just because he knew that Jack could just as easily give it back). He doesn’t know how he could have gotten through most of his life without Jack -- he’d been the one who had pushed him to pursue his dreams, to be a songwriter, and with Jack working in the industry, it was an easy enough way. He took trips occasionally with Jack, but he could do most of his work from home, which he had opted to do this time. 

He was now regretting it, wanting nothing more than to be with Jack in his hour of sickness. In sickness and in health or however it went, right? 

All Alex knew was that he was very much against getting himself off the couch and into the shower, but he was going to have to do it, since he just took his last dose of daytime sinus meds. He wishes for probably the tenth time that morning that Jack was there. (He wasn’t codependent or anything like that, no, not at all. He was just sick and missed his partner. That was definitely it.)

Alex is in the middle of prying himself up off of the couch, pulling his blanket that he’s been glued to around his body when he hears someone at the door. He furrows his brow a little bit, confused as to who could possibly be here. Maybe Jack had told Rian or Zack that he was being a miserable child when it came to being sick (not that it would be much of a surprise to their college roommates), and had asked one of them to drop him off something so he wouldn’t have to go all the way out. (He thinks that they probably wouldn’t do that, though, so he’s even more curious now.)

He makes his way over to the door, wearing his blanket around his body much like a robe with a hood, not wanting to let any of the comfort escape him as he opens the door. He nearly drops it to the floor, however, when he sees who’s on the other side of the door. 

“You know, I was in the neighborhood, and I thought I would swing by with some meds and some treats for my favorite guy,” Jack says with a little bit of a grin, standing on the other side of the door, bag from the local pharmacy slung over his arm. Alex stares at him in disbelief, mouth open as he tries to find the words to comprehend what was happening. “You’re gonna catch an awful lot of flies like that, you know, you fucker.” 

“I… But you were in Los Angeles last night,” Alex says, finally finding the words. Jack steps inside, shutting the door behind the two of them. 

“And I came home so I could take care of you, you sick little goblin,” he says with a little bit of a laugh. “I bought the super strong stuff and some soup and more tissues, since the small mountain I could see over FaceTime was concerning to me.” He sets the bag down on the table, and Alex crosses over to him, wrapping his blanket-covered arms around Jack from behind, pressing his face into his neck. 

“Missed you,” he hums softly, sniffling a little bit from his clogged sinuses (and maybe a little bit from emotion, but he wouldn’t ever let anyone know that). “I can’t believe you just… flew all the way from Los Angeles back here just for me.” 

“Bro… I would fly across the world for you, dude,” Jack laughs, leaning back into Alex’s grip. “I felt bad you were here alone. I knew work could wait. You’re my number one, you fuckhead.” Alex laughs a little bit against his skin, smiling as he inhales a scent that could only be described as Essential Jack B. Barakat. “Now come on, off to bed with you, I’ll make you some soup and like, keep you company or whatever.” Alex pulls back a little bit, pulling his blanket around him again. 

“Thank you for coming back for me,” he says. “I love you.” Jack just grins at him, nudging him playfully. 

“Love you too,” he laughs. “Bed, now, dude.” Alex obliges, knowing he’s in Jack’s capable (at least, capable enough) hands.

And that is all he could ever ask for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> come yell at me or send me prompt requests at [tumblr](http://cakelftv.tumblr.com) :)


End file.
